Svatý Kosma a Damián

You can visit the beautiful Greek Catholic Church at one of the masses held in Czech, Ukrainian, Belarusian or Old Sliven.

Such an inconspicuous shard right next to the giant mass of the Church of the Virgin Mary, nevertheless deserves attention. The small Romanesque church of the former Prague settlement Podskalí was first mentioned in 1178, when it is listed as a parish. According to the chronicle, Prince Wenceslas was supposed to visit it with pleasure, and according to another legend, St. Adalbert and St. Procopius Sázavský were also to serve Mass here - perhaps because of that later, Charles IV. he chose this place to establish a monastery of Slavic Benedictines. Then, unfortunately, the building lost its significance and turned into a monastery chapel, which was severely damaged during the Hussite riots and later neglected. Over time, the building was consecrated and used as a grape press. The current early Baroque appearance of the church dates from the reconstruction in the years 1657 - 1659 and today serves as a Greek Catholic church. Such an inconspicuous shard just beside the giant mass of the Church of Our Lady, yet deserves your attention. The small Romanesque church of the former Prague settlement Podskalí was first mentioned in 1178 as a parish one. According to the chronicle, Prince Wenceslas liked to go there, according to another legend, also famous saints, St. Adalbert and St. Procopius of Sazava used to serve mass here - perhaps because of this later Charles IV. chose this place to establish a monastery of Slavic Benedictines. Later the building unfortunately lost its significance and was transformed into a monastery chapel, severely damaged during the Hussite wars and later neglected. Over time, the building was deconsecrated and used as a wine press. The present early Baroque appearance of the church comes from the reconstruction in the years 1657 - 1659 and today serves as a Greek Catholic church.

The handing over of this church to the Greek Catholic Church reminds us of the ties established during the First Republic and the then living idea of ​​Slavic and wider reciprocity (including Romania, Yugoslavia and Subcarpathian Russia). But war broke out ...

The church of Saints Cosmas and Damian is part of the Emmaus Monastery Complex. But when it was an independent religious association, performing the role of a parish church in the village of Podskali. Yes, and the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian itself was built a couple of centuries earlier than the Emmaus Monastery itself was established. However, less rhetoric and more historical facts. The church of Saints Cosmas and Damian was built at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries on the site of an earlier Christian basilica. According to legend, two revered Czech saints served the mass in the walls of the former Podskal church: Bishop Adalbert of Prague, better known as Saint Vojtech, and Saint Prokop. From the first years of its existence, the new church served as a parish council. The highest flourishing of the temple falls on the 14th century. It was then, in 1347, that the Czech King Charles IV invited the monks of the Benedictine Order from Croatia to worship in Prague in the Old Slavonic language. Until the construction of a large Benedictine monastery in the neighborhood, the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian was one of the few cathedrals in Central Europe where worship was conducted in accordance with the canons of the Greek Catholic rite. The church was originally built in the Romanesque style, and it received a modern baroque appearance after rebuilding in 1657-1659. Today the temple is a single-nave rectangular structure with small closed choirs. The volume of the building itself is covered with a hipped roof. On the walls of the temple you will not see abundant decorative ornaments. Inside the temple are two altars. The main altar is consecrated in honor of the holy brothers Kosma and Damian, the altar in the chapel is in the name of St. Wenceslas. In recent years, the liturgy in Czech has been renewed in the church according to the Greek Catholic rite. In 1990, the old monastery at Emmaus was returned to Benedictine monks. Together with him, the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Slovan passed into the ownership of the order.